Assembling A Multiverse Team
by Lyra Anna Ly
Summary: Emma's eyes met with those of the other girl, and a memory surfaced itself. "Bella?" / The girl smiled, a somewhat knowing one. "Hey EZ, it's been a while, hasn't it?" - AI Football GGO Short story - Part of the EmmaVerse Mulitverse. (NOW WITH ALL NEW FEATURES!) Find out what Anit-Oscaar and Issacina are up to, and meet Bella!


"Trust me, you'll love it!" Cat insisted. Emma looked skeptically at her friend before looking back at the store.

"I highly doubt that. Why do I need one anyways, I don't want to play." Emma turned fully to her friend, knowing that Cat would try to argue. "That's not even factoring in the fact that I have no idea how to play. I've watched you all several times before and it's not the kind of thing I'm into. You like bossing people around, but I like different things, and I'm not gonna change just because you want me to."

"I get that, and I respect your decision, but I really think you should try it. If you still don't wanna play, then you can quit. One of us will start training him instead."

"Can't I try a girl instead? Do they even have girls that play?" Emma asked, looking back at the shop, resolving that she wouldn't get out of this that easily.

"Not that I know of… I guess you could ask Issac, I'm sure he'd come help us pick one too."

"No, I think I'll be fine picking for myself. I'd rather not bother any of them."

"Um… About that." Cat said, looking anywhere but at Emma.

"Did you… Nope, doesn't matter, lets just go." Emma said, guessing that her friend had called not only her crush, but the rest of the team as well, including Emma's own cousin and secret crush. Cat was the only one that the girl had told, but her cousin Karl had caught on weeks ago, and constantly teased her about it.

Emma walked in the store, not waiting for her friend to follow after her before finding her way between the shelves upon shelves of different players. It wasn't long before she concluded that she'd gotten lost and should probably stop wandering around and wait for someone to find her.

Not that she was waiting long, only seconds after she stopped to admire the realistic players in their boxes, she was found by a boy a bit older than her. He had blonde hair that was dyed blue at the ends, shadowing from a light sky blue to a dark royal. His eyes were hazel, and held a certain amusement in them at seeing her. Emma smiled at the boy, rolling her eyes and addressing him properly. "What are you doing here Riff?"

"Well, dear Emma, _I_ was here to pick up a new player for the team I'm starting. I feel as if the better question though, the one that needs answering, is why are _you_ here? I was under the impression that you didn't care for the game too much."

Emma snickered, but continued on nonetheless, taking on the same falsely formal tone that he had to reply. "Oh no, I have no interest in playing myself, but it seems a friend of mine has other plans. I don't wish to upset her, so I thought it best to go along."

"Well in that case…" Riff said, dropping the playful small talk in favor of taking on a more serious tone and turning to the player she'd been looking at, picking it up and glancing at the stats on the back of the box it came in. "This one is named Fred. His speed is pretty good, but his stamina could be better. The capacity though, I think you could teach him quite a few special moves once he's put on a team."

"Wow! I never knew you were so serious about the game." Emma commented, eyes wide from the shock. She'd known he liked the game, but he'd never shown a level of knowledge to the subject as he was now. Riff looked a bit sheepish as he put the player back on the shelf, his hand flew to the back of his neck as he tried and failed to brush it off.

"Yeah, I guess… Anyways, do you know what kind of player she wants you to get?"

"Knowing Cat? Anything that she decides is cute or shares a trait with Shawn."

"Aren't those like.. Synonyms to her?"

"Shawn is to cute what Karl is to slaker. Shawn is cute, but people who don't look like him can be cute too."

"I see."

"EMMA!" a voice shouted behind them. The two turned to see Cat had found her, along with the rest of team barefoot who she assumed had arrived while she was getting lost.

"Hey Kitty-Cat!" Riff called, being the first to respond, slipping seamlessly back into his easy going attitude. "Em tells me you're having her start a collection."

Cat's face turned red, with anger or embarrassment was anyone's guess, but her voice was carefully controlled as she answered. "It's not a collection, we're finding one so that she can try out the game."

"Oh? Well then Em, if you like it, let me know 'kay? You can join my team." Riff sent her a flirtatious wink, and Emma giggled. If he wanted to play like that, then she could do the same.

"Promise?" She asked, tilting her head to the side innocently. Emma watched as Cat snickered, and Riff had to stop himself from letting out a full blown laugh by covering his mouth with his hands.

"Sure." Riff said after he'd collected himself, pulling out his phone to check the time. "Oh crap! I was suppose to leave to meet my brother ten minutes ago! See you at school, bye!"

"By Riff!" The girls called in unison. Riff turned back to wave, but ended up tripping on a box than had fallen onto the floor. Cat and Emma burst into laughter, as did Riff after he'd figured out what happened. He left once more, this time walking out the store, and Emma turned to her other friends.

Everyone was wearing different expressions on their faces. Timmy looked confused, Cat was still trying to control her laughing, Issac looked annoyed, Shawn seemed to be contemplating something, and Karl's smile promised that he would be teasing her for weeks to come (Oscar wasn't there obviously). Emma shook her head, and turned to pick up the football player that Riff had tripped on.

"Lyra…?" Emma whispered, turning over the box to look at the stats on the female GGO Player.

"That one will be able to hold out for quite a while, it's not too fast though…" Someone said from behind her. She turned to find Issac standing behind her, looking at the stats and mumbling to himself.

"Fast enough though, right? The speed would just take away from the stamina, and she has a huge capacity to make up for it."

"I guess…" Issac mumbled, shaking his head and putting the player back on the shelf. "Anyways, you'll probably want one that's a little faster."

But Emma didn't, she wanted Lyra on her team, and reached for the female footballer, just as another hand reached out for the same player. Emma hadn't been paying enough attention until they both dropped the player from the shared force of pulling it at the same time. Emma's eyes met with those of the other girl, and a memory surfaced itself. "Bella?"

The girl smiled, a somewhat knowing one. "Hey EZ, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has." Emma answered, smiling at the girl, a shared secret. "You want Lyra, too?"

"I think you and I both know why we want this one speciffically."

"Well I'm actually in the business of collecting a set then." Emma commented, eyebrow tilted upwards. "I'm going for Rini, VC, and Hyu as well."

"What if Monotony get's Hyu first?"

"Well I doubt Anti is going to get VC first, at the very least. Have you seen them both here?"

"Monotony yes, but I haven't met Anti yet. I think Sina is a singer in this day and age. She's famous for sure, but I think we could convince her to start a team. I've got Rini already."

"Super! VC is next then."

"They are a set." Bella said thoughtfully."

"Also, Anti is definitely here, he's a DJ at a nice little club. I told him about them… And Oscaar."

"His reaction?"

"I fear that VC may have deeply impacted his life in a way that could backfire later." Emma said sagely. "But besides that he's fine. He's been looking for _that_ person ever since."

"May they live long and be free and at peace with their soul." Bella said. "I got tips that the whole group is here. Wanna help search?"

"Of course." Emma finished, and off they went, getting even more lost in the store, Emma having picked Lyra back up and brought her with them. The rest of team Barefoot stood in shock and confusion as the two walked out of sight together.

"Cat…?" Karl whispered, his voice breathless.

"Nope." Cat answered soon after. The two shared a stupified look with each other, and the next words were said in sync.

"She makes friends on her own?"


End file.
